Zakat

Zakat is from the Arabic root z-k-w (Arabic: زكاة), carrying meanings of growth, purification, and increase[1]. The act of giving zakat is understood as purifying the giver's remaining wealth and increasing blessing. The term is paired in the Quran with salah (prayer) many times, indicating their close link[2].

zakat is not generic charity; it is a structured religious duty with social and spiritual significance.

Zakat is the third of the Five Pillars of Islam[3]. It is obligatory annual almsgiving on wealth that has been held for a full lunar year above a minimum threshold (nisab). The standard rate for most categories of wealth is 2.5 percent, with different rates for agricultural produce and livestock[3]. Recipients are defined by the Quran (Surah 9:60): the poor, the needy, those who administer the funds, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, captives, debtors, those in the path of God, and travelers in need[4].

Zakat is distinguished from voluntary charity (sadaqah). Voluntary giving is encouraged at any level; zakat is a specific religious obligation with set rules[3]. In many Muslim-majority countries, formal zakat institutions collect and distribute the funds; in other contexts, individual Muslims calculate and give zakat themselves, often through mosques and charities.

The institution shapes economic ethics in Islamic thought: wealth carries social obligation, and there is no theological framework for hoarding while neighbors go without[5]. Modern Islamic finance has developed extensively around zakat principles alongside the prohibition of interest (riba) and certain forms of speculation.

Islamic studies treats zakat as a central institution of Muslim social ethics. Comparative work places it alongside Jewish tzedakah, Christian tithing, and Hindu dana, while emphasizing its specific theological grounding in Islamic teaching about wealth, community, and divine ownership of all resources[5].

• No God but Godby Reza Aslan
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• Islam: A Short Historyby Karen Armstrong
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